Boy is this a timely topic! I received an e-mail today from a reader who was very concerned that I was posting information on Alpine Lakes which he felt should be left off the web site. I won't post his e-mail since I didn't ask him, but I will post my responce. I'd like your thoughts on this topic as I think it is an important one. And like I said in my responce to the reader's e-mail, I think the vast majority of readers of this site are responsable and do not abuse the resource. I get so much enjoyment running this site and hearing from all of you. Here's the letter:
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Thanks for your letter. You raise an issue that I have thought about for the five years I've run the site. It's an important issue and not to be taken lightly.
My concern is the same as yours. I don't want to see quality Alpine lakes trashed. I would hope that everyone would agree with that. Unfortunately, there are always a few bad eggs that will spoil it for everyone if given half a chance. If you've been following the thread on Rattlesnake lake, you will see that poaching and illegal fishing happens on lowland lakes as well as high land.
Your request if I read it correctly is that I should edit or not post certain lakes. The problem for me then becomes, which lakes? Everyone is going to have their own idea of what lake to post information on and what not to post on. And that applies to all the lakes, not just Alpine lakes. Further, I generally trust people to do the right thing. There are plenty of people who post their concerns about catch and release and limiting catch on the web site. So anyone who reads the site is going to see those posts.
Frankly, I think 99+% of the people that read WL are upstanding and have concern about our resource. And the other <1% are going to do what they want to do regardless of whether they see the info on my site or read it in a book. So I'm not inclined to censor information that people send me that they want to have posted on the site. I had a lot of people request an Alpine Lakes section prior to starting it. I know this isn't what you wanted to hear.
I will do this. I will place a LARGE disclaimer on the Alpine Lakes section. Better yet, would you be willing to write a general disclaimer to place on the Alpine Lakes section reminding people of the sensitive nature of the lakes? Whether we like it or not, people are going to find these lakes, as they have been doing for years already. The best thing we can do is educate fishermen in the proper use of these fragile lakes.
Thank you again for your concerns,
Mike